Guard for paint applicator



March 1965 w. H. SINGLETON ETAL 3,175,241

GUARD FOR PAINT APPLICATOR Filed Dec. 12, 1962 INVENTORS M7422; fi. 5010/9/00, I 4677774202 5 flaw 06x 5 br on ew 6. @mvzgy BY I W W 'M- United States Patent U 3,175,241 GUARD FOR PAINT APPLICATOR William H. Singleton, 628 Oakland Terrace; Norman G. Harper, 9 Lee Court; and Brower C. Spansy, 3915 Usher Ave., all of Alexandria, Va.

Filed Dec. 12, 1962, Ser. No. 244,176 2 Claims. (Cl. -248) This invention relates to roller-type paint applicators, and more particularly to guards for use with roller ap plicators to limit the distance the roller may be moved toward an abutting wall.

Frequently in painting a room it is desirable to have the ceiling and side walls of difiierent colors. Sometimes, one side wall may have a different color from the others. It is difiicult to manipulate a roller to paint close to the abutting surface of contrasting color without actually coming into contact with the abutting wall. This leads to the practice of leaving a wide unpainted area at the edge of the wall being painted, which later must be painted with a brush, or to the possibility of striking the abutting wall and leaving a marking of unwanted color. Either practice requires time to correct.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a guard which can be attached to a roller-type applicator which will act as a limit stop to prevent contact of the roller with an abutting wall.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a guard of this type which can be attached to a roller applicator and be adjustable to vary the distance the roller will be held from the abutting wall.

Another object is to provide a guard which can be maintained on the roller handle and moved to and from operative position so that it can be carried on the roller handle when not in use and will not interfere with free operation of the roller in normal fashion.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one practical embodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a roller type paint applicator with a guard embodying the principles of the present invention in place on it;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the device shown in FIGURE 1 in operative position against a wall; and

FIGURE 3 is a section through the device taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

In general, the invention consists in a guard which can be adjustably attached to a roller type paint applicator to prevent contact of the roller with an angularly related wall adjacent the wall being painted.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a conventional roller paint applicator 1, consisting of a roller 2 rotatably mounted upon a handle 3. The handle includes a hand grip 4 which carries a mounting rod 5 terminating in an axle 5' upon which the roller is mounted. The mounting rod is bent so as to position the roller normal to the axis of the hand grip.

The guard 6 is an articulated member having a mounting section 7 and a wall contacting section 8, with the two pivotally connected at 9. The mounting section lies generally along the handle of the applicator, and is held on the handle by mounting rings .10. The rings will have a tight frictional grip on the handle, or they may be fixed to the handle by any suitable means, if desired. The mounting rings will have ofisets 11, contoured to slidably receive the mounting section 7 of the guard. The fit of the mounting section in the offset of the rings will 3,175,241 Patented Mar. 30, 1965 be sufiiciently tight to frictionally hold the mounting sec tion in positions of longitudinal adjustment on the applicator handle. Thus it will be possible to move the mounting section lengthwise of the handle, and the section will remain in the adjusted position.

The wall contacting section of the guard consists of an arm 12 extending outwardly from the pivot and carrying a stop 13 at its outer end. The stop is shown as an elongated member extending substantially the'length of the roller and lying parallel toit. The stop is joined at its center to the arm 12.

' The pivot 9 can be any suitable type to provide freedom of movement of the wall contacting section of the guard relative to the mounting section while having enough stillness to hold the wall contacting section at any desired angle of adjustment. The pivot shown is a bolt 14 having a nut 15 threaded on it. This will allow the joint between the two sections of the guard to be adjusted so as to obtain just the right amount of tightmess to permit the wall contacting section to be moved, yet hold it in any desired position.

The guard may be made of any suitable material. It can be formed of wood, metal, or molded from an appropriate plastic.

In using the device, the guard will be put in place on the handle of an applicator by placing the rings 10 at appropriate places on the handle and sliding the mounting section through the offsets 11. The section Will be frictionally gripped by the rings and also held against the applicator handle surface. This will ensure ample surface contact between the mounting section, rings and handle to hold the mounting section stationary relative to the handle. If it is desired to use the guard, the wall contacting section will be swung to position overlying the roller, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. This will place the stop 13 ahead of the roller in the direction of forward movement of the roller. Thus, the stop will contact an angularly related wall when the applicator is moved over a wall surface and prevent the roller from contacting the adjacent wall. This is shown clearly in FIGURE 2 where the roller is shown being moved across a wall 16. The guard is in contact with a ceiling, or other adjacent angularly related wall 17 to limit roller movement toward the wall 17. This will effectively prevent the operator from moving the roller into contact with the wall 17 and thereby leaving a marking of paint of a different color, or shade.

The width of the unpainted margin of wall 16 adjacent wall 17 can be varied by adjusting the position of the guard relative to the applicator. This can be done by sliding the mounting member lengthwise of the applicator handle. As previously mentioned, friction will hold the guard in its adjusted position.

When painting the main body of the wall, it is not necessary that the guard be in operative position. When not being used, the guard can be moved to an inoperative position by swinging the wall contacting section about the pivot 9 to overlie the handle of the applicator, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 1. When the guard is needed, it can be swung very quickly into operative position.

The guard, as disclosed, will provide a very effective means to prevent marking a wall adjacent one being painted, and is very simple to operate. It will not be in the way of normal operation of the roller when swung to inoperative position.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be apparent that the details of construction shown and described are merely by way of illustration and the invention may take other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A guard for a paint applicator, of the roller type having a roller and a handle, to prevent the applicator roller, when moving across a wall being painted, from contacting an adjacent angularly related Wall comprising, an elongated, rigid mounting member extending parallel to, and closely adjacent, the handle, rings to surround the applicator handle and the mounting member at spaced points longitudinally of the handle and mounting memher to frictionally hold the mounting member in positions of adjustment longitudinally of the applicator handle, and a rigid wall contacting member pivotally connected to the mounting member to assume alternate positions overlying the applicator roller and overlying the applicator handle, the wall contacting member including a stop to lie in front of the roller in wall contacting position when the wall contacting member is overlying the applicator roller.

2. A guard for a paint applicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the stop extends substantially the length of the applicator roller and lies parallel thereto, and the mounting member is of non-round cross-section and the rings have offset portions of matching contour to the mounting member cross-section to receive the mounting member to hold the mounting member against rotative movement and maintain the stop parallel to the applicator roller.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,160,570 5/39 Welt 15-24-8.1 X 2,537,468 1/51 Lanius 15-560 X 2,947,018 8/ 60 Kurschner 15-24 3,088,152 5/63 Lucas 15230 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A GUARD FOR A PAINT APPLICATOR, OF THE ROLLER TYPE HAVING A ROLLER AND A HANDLE, TO PREVENT THE APPLICATOR ROLLER, WHEN MOVING ACROSS A WALL BEING PAINTED, FROM CONTACTING AN ADJACENT ANGULARLY RELATED WALL COMPRISING, AN ELONGATED, RIGID MOUNTING MEMBER EXTENDING PARALLEL TO, AND CLOSELY ADAJCENT, THE HANDLE, RINGS TO SURROUND THE APPLICATOR HANDLE AND THE MOUNTING MEMBER AT SPACED POINTS LONGITUDINALLY OF THE HANDLE AND MOUNTING MEMBER TO FRICTIONALLY HOLD THE MOUNTING MEMBER IN POSITIONS OF ADJUSTMENT LONGITUDINALLY OF THE APPLICATOR HANDLE, AND A RIGID WALL CONTACTING MEMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE MOUNTING MEMBER TO ASSUME ALTERNATE POSITIONS OVERLYING THE APPLICATOR ROLLER AND OVERLYING THE APPLICATOR HANDLE, THE WALL CONTACTING MEMBER INCLUDING A STOP TO LIE IN FRONT OF THE ROLLER IN WALL CONTACTING POSITION WHEN THE WALL CONTACTING MEMBER IS OVERLYING THE APPLICATOR ROLLER. 